Gerald Kaufman (Labour) - Manchester Evening News Gerald Kaufman (Labour) Gerald Kaufman is standing as Labour candidate for the Manchester Gorton constituency in the 2010 General Election. Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Gerald Kaufman is standing for election in Manchester Gorton as the Labour party candidate. Here, he describes his policies and achievements: Ever since I was first elected to the House of Commons by the people of Manchester in 1970, my very highest priority has always been to serve my constituents. I hold regular surgeries, which last up to four hours, have the third-biggest postbag of all 646 MPs, deal with all cases personally, and reply whenever possible by return of post. No issue is too big or too small for me to take up. I am involved with many community and neighbourhood groups, and helped form the first of our constituency's Friends of Parks groups, of several of which I am president. I speak for our constituency in the House of Commons on the issues that matter most to us, including jobs, the National Health Service, pensions and benefits, schools, housing, and law and order.

In the previous Labour government I was responsible for a record house-building programme and for creating and saving industrial jobs. Outside politics, I helped to set up Manchester's Cornerhouse, and love going to films there. I also attend musical and other events at Gorton Monastery, which I helped to save, and at Victoria Baths, which I also helped to save. I am the longest-serving member of parliament for our city since Manchester got its first MP in the 18th century. Like us on Facebook Gerald Kaufman (Politician) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Gerald Kaufman Male Born Jun 21, 1930 Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton.

He was a government minister during the 1970s, and a member of the Shadow Cabinet in the 1980s.… Read More related links Honor Flag Back In Town For Mc Lellands On Monday Kaufman Herald Google News - Apr 05, 2013 ' Philly.com Honor flag back in town for McLellands on Monday Kaufman Herald Kaufman County Sheriff\'s Office deputies lower the flags in front of the Law Enforcement Center to half-staff, in memory of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia â who were found Saturday evening in their home, dead from gunshot wounds. Thousands Remember McLellands, Search For Their Killer ContinuesCBS 11 Texas Gov. Vows to \'Hunt Down\'...ABC News FBI hunts for killer of Texas DA with billboard i... Mp Sir Gerald Kaufman Takes Up Winnie Johnson's Fight To Finally Find Tragic ... Manchester Evening News Google News - Aug 21, 2012 ' Telegraph.co.uk MP Sir <mark>Gerald Kaufman</mark> takes up Winnie Johnson\'s fight to finally find tragic ...

Manchester Evening News An MP has vowed to continue the fight to find the final resting place of Moors Murder victim Keith Bennett. Sir <mark>Gerald Kaufman</mark> spoke out after it emerged a letter supposedly written by Ian Brady to Keith\'s late mum, Winnie Johnson, may have been ... Endgames Of A Psychopath took a chilling look inside Ian Brady\'s mindMetro Ian Brady document... Blue Plaque Honour For Oldest Cinema In Leeds Yorkshire Evening Post - Jul 16, 2012 ' Leeds-born drama writer Kay Mellor is set to unveil a blue plaque to mark the 100th birthday of the oldest cinema in Leeds. Cottage Road Cinema in Headingley will celebrate the milestone on Sunday, July 29. Kay, who wrote dramas including Fat Friends and The Syndicate, will unveil the plaque â sponsored by the Far Headingley Village Society â at 2.30pm. The event will also include a special tribute by local poet Linda Marshall, called Havoc In Far Headingley, with a screening of 1956 fil...

Council Salaries: The 'looters' Have Hit The Town Hall Telegraph.Co.Uk Google News - Aug 27, 2011 'Just days after all those expensive television sets and other goods vanished through the broken shop windows of various British cities, among the MPs queuing up in the Commons to excoriate the culprits was Sir <mark>Gerald Kaufman</mark>' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Gerald Kaufman. CHILDHOOD 1930 Birth Born on June 21, 1930. TWENTIES 1955 25 Years Old In the 1955 general election Kaufman had unsuccessfully contested the Conservative seat of Bromley, and in the 1959 general election, Gillingham. THIRTIES 1962 32 Years Old He became a writer, contributing to the satirical television comedy programme on BBC Television, That Was The Week That Was in 1962 and 1963, along with many other names, where he was most remembered for the "Silent men of Westminster" sketch.

… Read More He regularly appeared as a guest on its successor, Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life.<br /><br /> In 1999, he acted as chairman of the Booker Prize judges. Read Less FORTIES 1970 40 Years Old Kaufman was elected MP for Manchester Ardwick at the 1970 general election and has represented the Manchester Gorton constituency since the 1983 election. 1974 44 Years Old He was a junior minister throughout Labour's time in power from 1974 to 1979, first in the Department for the Environment (1974â75) under Anthony Crosland, then in the Department of Industry under Eric Varley (Minister of State, 1975â79). 1978 48 Years Old He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1978.

FIFTIES 1983 53 Years Old … In opposition, Kaufman was the Shadow Environment Secretary, (1980â83), Shadow Home Secretary (1983â87) and Shadow Foreign Secretary (1987â92). Read Less He dubbed the Labour Party's left-wing 1983 election manifesto "the longest suicide note in history". LATE ADULTHOOD Show Less In 1992 he went to the back benches and became Chair of what was then the National Heritage Select Committee. He chaired the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport formerly the Select Committee on National Heritage, between 1992â2005, and was a member of the Parliamentary Committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), between 1980â92, of the Labour Party National Executive Committee, from 1991â92, and of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform, in 1999.

1997 67 Years Old As Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Kaufman's style of cross-examination and withering remarks to witnesses gained some note. They are evident in particular when he alleges cultural elitism. In 1997 in committee Kaufman criticised the then Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House Mary Allen over her inability to account for cost over-runs of a costly lottery funded refurbishment of the venue that would result in both fewer seats and the costly cancellation of scheduled performances, and condemned her low public standards â an event that contributed to her tendering her resignation. … Read More Kaufman has twice voted against the Labour Whip - the first time on the provision in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 to introduce an extra requirement in the process for private prosecutors seeking to obtain an arrest warrant for "universal jurisdiction" offences such as war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity; the second time against the Welfare Reform Bill 2015. He voted with the government on the 2003 invasion of Iraq saying in Parliament "Even though all our hearts are heavy, I have no doubt that it is right to vote with the Government tonight".

Read Less 2001 71 Years Old Kaufman was found to have claimed Â£115,109 in additional costs allowances on his London flat between 2001 and 2008, and submitted a claim for three months' expenses totalling Â£14,301.60 in June 2006, which included Â£8,865 for a 40-inch LCD television and Â£1,461.83 for a luxury rug imported from New York City (plus Â£389.91 in customs expenses), which violated regulations forbidding claims for luxury furnishings. … Read More He blamed his self-diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder for his claims, and also said that his condition led him to purchase a pair of Waterford Crystal grapefruit bowls on his parliamentary expenses. Between 2005 and 2007, Kaufman claimed Â£28,834 for home improvements. He was subsequently summoned to the Parliamentary Fees Office to explain these claims, and in the end was paid Â£15,329.

He also claimed Â£1,262 for a gas bill that was Â£1,055 in credit. His claims for food between 2004 and June 2008 were Â£19,200, close to the maximum allowed. He was also challenged over regular claims for "odd jobs", which he submitted without receipts at a rate of Â£245 per month, then Â£5 below the limit for unreceipted expenses, to which he replied by asking why these expenses were being queried.<br /><br /> Kaufman has written many books and articles. Some are political â How to be a Minister (1980) is an irreverent look at the difficulties faced by ministers trying to control the civil service, in much the same vein as the television series Yes Minister. Some are cultural â Meet Me in St Louis is a study of the 1944 Judy Garland film. He contributed a chapter about John Hodge, Labour Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton elected in 1906, to Men Who Made Labour, edited by Alan Haworth and Diane Hayter.

Read Less Show Less … In doing so they defied the party's leadership, which had ordered MPs to abstain. <br /><br />Kaufman, who is a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, formerly Poale Zion, a socialist group with the Labour party in Britain, is critical of Israel. Kaufman has called for economic sanctions and an arms ban against Israel, citing the success of such measures against apartheid South Africa. Read Less In 2002, he referred to Israel as a "pariah state", and called Israel's senior politicians "war criminals". Kaufman once publicly vowed to never again visit Israel, but in 2002 he retracted that promise to create a BBC television documentary, The End of the Affair, in which he recounted his youthful infatuation with Israel and his eventual disillusionment. … Read More Kaufman made a number of controversial statements in the film, including that Orthodox Jews were "infesting" Jerusalem. The film aired on Rosh Hashana. Some days later, on Yom Kippur, Kaufman was abused by fellow congregants in St. John's Wood Synagogue.

Read Less In April 2002, during Israel's military operation codenamed Defensive Shield, Kaufman gave a speech to the House of Commons, saying in part: … Read More It is time to remind Sharon that the Star of David belongs to all Jews, not to his repulsive Government. His actions are staining the star of David with blood. The Jewish people, whose gifts to civilised discourse include Einstein and Epstein, Mendelssohn and Mahler, Sergei Eisenstein and Billy Wilder, are now symbolised throughout the world by the blustering bully Ariel Sharon, a war criminal implicated in the murder of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila camps and now involved in killing Palestinians once again. Read Less Show Less He was knighted for services to Parliament in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours. … Read More On 25 May 2010, during the Queen's Speech debate, Kaufman accused the Liberal Democrat candidate for his constituency during the 2010 election, Qassim Afzal, of running "an anti-Semitic, and personally anti-Semitic, election campaign" in Manchester Gorton.

Read Less In July 2004, Kaufman wrote an article in The Guardian newspaper, entitled "The case for sanctions against Israel: What worked with apartheid can bring peace to the Middle East", in which he proposed economic sanctions against Israel. 2006 76 Years Old Kaufman has criticised Israel for the deaths of British citizens Tom Hurndall and James Miller. In 2006, he called for the Israeli soldiers responsible to be handed over and tried in Britain, or before an international war crimes tribunal, and stated that economic sanctions would have to be considered if Israel refused to cooperate. Show Less Kaufman was involved in the 2009 expenses scandal, where a number of British MPs made excessive expense claims, misusing their permitted allowances and expense accounts. In January 2009, during the Gaza War, Kaufman gave a speech to the House of Commons where he stated: "The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians." … Read More About his own family experience he said: "My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town.

A German soldier shot her dead in her bed. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza."<br /><br /> Kaufman also made a comparison between Hamas members in Gaza to the Jewish resistance during World War II, saying: "The spokeswoman for the Israeli army, Major Leibovich, was asked about the Israeli killing of, at that time, 800 Palestinians. The total is now 1,000. She replied instantly that '500 of them were militants'. That was the reply of a Nazi. I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants." He said, "Hamas is a deeply nasty organisation, but it was democratically elected, and it is the only game in town. The boycotting of Hamas, including by our Government, has been a culpable error, from which dreadful consequences have followed." He also claimed that the Irgun were terrorists, and that "Israel was born out of Jewish terrorism". Kaufman urged the British government "to make clear to the Israeli government that its conduct and policies are unacceptable and to impose a total arms ban on Israel".

Kaufman also claimed that it was "too late" for Israel to negotiate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, claiming that "they could have negotiated with Fatah's previous President Yasser Arafat, who was a friend of mine. Read Less In June 2009, he compared Israel's "oppression" of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to South Africa under apartheid and Iran. … Read More He described Iran as a "loathsome regime", but said that unlike Israel, "at least it keeps its totalitarian theocracy to within its own borders", and that the close proximity of affluent Israeli settlers to impoverished Palestinians was more "heart-rending" than conditions in South Africa during apartheid, as the bantustans were "some distance away from the affluent areas". He also said that Israel should follow the lead of the British Armed Forces from their conduct in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Read Less He was the leader of a large European parliamentary delegation to Gaza in January 2009 during which he said that Israeli officials who authorised the use of white phosphorus in densely populated Gaza should be tried for war crimes.

… Read More Kaufman also called the Israeli blockade of Gaza "evil".<br /><br /> Following the Gaza flotilla raid, Kaufman called Israel's actions "a war crime of piracy in international waters, kidnapping and murder, all in pursuit of upholding an illegal blockade on Gaza that amounts to collective punishment". Read Less Show Less In December 2010, Kaufman criticised a proposed amendment to Britain's universal jurisdiction law seeking to prevent visiting Israeli officials from being arrested and indicted, claiming that such changes made a mockery of the British legal system. … Read More He highlighted the arrest warrant against former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for her part in the "slaughter" that took place during the Gaza War. He also claimed that British Jews were waking up to Israel's human rights violations and distancing themselves from Israel. Kaufman was berated for his statements by pro-Israel MPs. As Kaufman stressed Israel's alleged war crimes and breaches of international law, he faced even more vociferous criticism, and the Deputy Speaker of the House had to restore order. Conservative MP Robert Halfon accused Kaufman of using the bill reading for his own political agenda, and stated that his "hatred for Israel knows no bounds".

Read Less Along with another Labour MP Martin Linton, he accused the Conservative Party of being "too close" to Israel. In 2010, Kaufman said that those parts of the British Conservative party not controlled by Lord Ashcroft are controlled by "right-wing Jewish millionaires". Show Less Following the 2011 Nakba Day riots, when a number of Palestinian refugees were killed during clashes with Israeli security forces as they attempted to breach Israel's borders as part of protests demanding the implementation of the Palestinian right of return, Kaufman gave a speech criticising Israeli actions, claiming that Palestinians were "slaughtered", and said that "the way in which Israeli soldiers maltreat Palestinians is appalling". … Read More Following the 2011 Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition and membership of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital, Kaufman wrote in the following in the letters page of an op-ed in The Guardian: <br /><br /> President Abbas is to be congratulated on persisting in applying for Palestinian statehood at the UN, despite all the pressure and blackmail trying to force him not to. The quartet has never done anything meaningful to give the Palestinians their independence.

If the US uses its veto at the security council, this will prove the smug windbag Obama to be the puppet of Aipac. The hypocrisy of those countries which vote against or abstain at the general assembly will be exposed. This brave Palestinian move will change the entire environment of the Middle East and tell the Israelis they must negotiate meaningfully if they wish to be one of the states in a two-state solution. Read Less On 30 March 2011 he was caught by a microphone in the Chamber of the House of Commons saying "here we are, the Jews again", when fellow Jewish Labour MP Louise Ellman rose to speak, for which he apologised. Gorton Labour Party Gorton Labour Party Gerald Kaufman Fallowfield Advice , Gorton Advice , Kaufman Advice , Longsight Advice , Rusholme Advice Socialist Health Association Leave a comment Gerald is always ready to do his best to help his constituents with any problems they may bring to him. However, Parliamentary rules prevent him from taking up cases of people who do not live in his constituency.

If you are not sure which constituency you are in try Write to Them , where there is a good page not only to find your own MP and councillor, but also good advice about who can help with different sorts of problems. You may also find this map of the constituency useful. You can contact him by email , by House of Commons telephone at 0207 219 5145 or by letter to the House of Commons London SW1A 0AA., by Personal Assistant telephone at 0161 975 0297, by Helpline at 0161 248 0073, and by fax at 0207 219 6825. If your problem is to do with services provided by Manchester City Council it is probably better to ask your councillor to help first.

Advice Bureaux 2015 Friday 16 January Wilbraham Primary Schoo l Fallowfield 7pm to 8.30 pm Friday 23 January Sacred Heart Parish Church Hall Levenshulme Road M18 7WJ 7pm to 8.30 pm M16 0BG Saturday 14 February St Andrew’s C of E Primary School , Broom Lane Levenshulme M19 2UH 10am to 11.30 am Saturday 21 February Gorton Library 10am to 11.30 am Friday 6 March Sacred Heart Parish Church Hall Levenshulme Road M18 7WJ 7pm to 8.30 pm Saturday 7 March Longsight Library 519 Stockport Road, M12 4NE 10am to 11.30 am Saturday 28 March Anson Residents Association 38 Meldon Rd, Manchester M13 0TR Gerald Kaufman Socialist Health Association Leave a comment Gerald is one of the most effective operators in the House of Commons.

He is passionate about his opposition to hunting, and as a Jew about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been a strong supporter of Anti-social Behaviour Orders which have had a beneficial effect on our constituency, which has had more than its fair share of gang warfare and disorder. He was for many years the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on culture media and sports and the author of “How to be a Minister”, “Meet Me in St Louis” and other books. Gerald’s political career: 50 years on, and no signs of slowing down - Manchester Evening News News 50 years on, and no signs of slowing down MANCHESTER'S longest serving MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman, has described as 'minimal' the mistakes of the former work and pensions secretary David Blunket. Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email MANCHESTER'S longest serving MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman, has described as 'minimal' the mistakes of the former work and pensions secretary David Blunket. Mr Kaufman, who was reflecting on 50 years in politics, blamed the media for forcing Mr Blunkett's resignation on Wednesday.

He said "This is Toy Town politics. It may well be that David Blunkett could have thought more about the way he did various things. "But in terms of probity in public life they're so minimal when you look at some of things going on in Washington and some things that went on under the Tory government. "I'm sure that David, if given a second chance to think about what he's done, wouldn't have done it." Mr Kaufman is in no mood to quit after half a century prowling the corridors of political power. "I don't want to be a member of the House of Lords, I want to go on being the MP for the Gorton constituency. But what the future holds, who can say," the 75-year-old says. "I've only just been elected for the 10th time and I know my constituency party wants me to go on being MP." Sir Gerald has given his thoughts on issues including whether the former Prime Minister Harold Wilson was a Russian spy, if Pensions Secretary David Blunkett is finished, George Bush and why Manchester is a vibrant city.

Sir Gerald started his career in politics in 1955 as Assistant General Secretary to the Fabian Society and as Parliamentary candidate in Bromley against former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. That gives him 50 years in politics, as a journalist, Labour party press officer, Minister and a member of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee. One of the highlights of his half century in politics, which include 35 years as a Manchester MP, came in 1970 as Harold Wilson's advisor. He urged him to go to the country immediately because bad economic figures were looming but Wilson waited a week and lost the election - proving a week is a long time in politics.

He adds: "Winning the rights for supersonic Concorde to land in the US when I was Industry Minister, a housing speech in 1980 which led to me being elected to the Shadow Cabinet, and being elected to the Commons as MP for Manchester on June 18, 1970." He is also proud of being appointed to the Privy Council in 1978, getting a Knighthood last year, his appointment as a Labour Minister and scoring a victory over North West Water in turning Waterside Park into a business park. Sir Gerald attended Leeds Grammar School as a boy and says he was badly bullied because anti-Semitism was rife. "I'm sorry to say there is still quite a lot of bullying in schools - I'm not the only person to be bullied but I don't think it traumatised me," says the veteran MP. In two weeks he is heading a Parliamentary trip to Palestine - the first of its kind - and says he will judge the progress or lack of it being made. He has previously made statements against the Israeli government and received hate mail and death threats because of them. "I was harassed in a synagogue in London when I was praying during Jewish New Year," he says.

He has little time for George Bush and hasn't changed his mind that he is "intellectually backward". "In fact he's worse. The events of the last few weeks have demonstrated what a disaster he is," says Sir Gerald. He says he can answer the mystery of why Harold Wilson quit in 1976: "He had already decided to go on his 60th birthday, he felt jaded and his wife Mary had had enough of it." But he dismisses suggestions he was a long-term Russian spy. He believes that the BBC's plans for a "inflation busting" increase in licence fees are unacceptable, supports the move of BBC staff to Manchester and believes his 30 year campaign against fox hunting has finally produced the goods. Like us on Facebook Interview: Sir Gerald Kaufman MP | The Mancunion Interview: Sir Gerald Kaufman MP Tweet Photo: wdm_manchester @Flickr Despite being 84, Gerald Kaufman is still as sharp as he’s ever been after 44 years in the House of Commons. The son of Jewish immigrants who fled Poland before World War I, Kaufman grew up in Leeds and attended the Leeds Grammar School and Oxford University.

An outspoken supporter of the Palestinian state, he has had a varied career, working for The Daily Mirror and writing for popular TV satire That Was The Week That Was. I met Gerald Kaufman after his MP’s surgery at Gorton Library. On the possibility becoming the oldest Member of Parliament at the next election and if he’ll ever retire I’m standing at the next election because [the constituency Labour Party] twisted my arm to stand, and they even twisted my arm as to when I should announce it. It’s not just because of that; I feel that I may be of service to people and that’s fulfilling. Secondly there are issues that I want to pursue in Parliament; local, national and international issues, and I get the opportunity to do that. I don’t look head to the future, I just take things as they come. I find what goes on at Westminster too often futile and pointless but you can make an impact there and you can get things done if you raise things in the right way. But it’s what happens in the constituency that keeps me interested. What keeps me going there is what happens here.

On the current political atmosphere When the Queen tapped me on the shoulder 10 years ago now to make me a knight, she said to me, “you must have seen a lot of changes in your time.” I said, “yes, but not all for the better.” I don’t like the way the House of Commons operates now. I don’t like the fact that there are ridiculous [four or five-minute] limitations on the lengths of speeches from backbenchers, for example. There isn’t really debate in the House of Commons. When I first went people would have debated with each other—but now people are looking at the clock the whole time to see how their four minutes are going. Theresa May is the first Home Secretary in all my time in the House of Commons who doesn’t answer letters. She’s very, very arrogant and I have said that in the House of Commons. Up until this government, although I didn’t always get satisfactory replies, I did get responses. The Prime Minister doesn’t answer letters. He is very, very arrogant. Same with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Other ministers are not so bad.

The Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Health; they may not send me replies that I find satisfactory on behalf of my constituents, but at least they respond. This is a bad Government in terms of its responsibility to Parliament and I have had to raise that with the Speaker in Parliament on a number of occasions. On Tony Benn I was a friend of Tony Benn for a considerable number of years. But then, in the late 1970s, Tony Benn, rich—he’s just left £5 million in his will, in addition to his country estate in Essex which he’s left to his family—and the son of a peer, [a peerage he] very courageously worked to get rid of, discovered the working class. Since I have been a member of the working class, I have never had to discover them and regard them as Benn appeared to regard them, as Noble Savages—they are just people as far as I’m concerned. He nearly destroyed the party when he took over leadership of the left and then stood for the deputy leadership. I would have left politics if he had been elected but fortunately, he was defeated by a fraction of one per cent.

I used to appear on platforms with Benn about Palestine, and on one occasion he said to me, “I’m liberated from being regarded as anti-Semitic when I support Palestine, because I can say Gerald Kaufman supports it.” Well, everybody has his uses I suppose. On the Israel-Palestine conflict This government refused to participate in the vote [to recognise Palestine]. They banned Conservative MPs from participating in the vote. We passed that resolution and the important thing was not only that it was a decision by the UK Parliament, regardless of what the Government does, but since the leader of the Labour Party officially voted for recognition, if we get a Labour Government next year then, unless they do it automatically, which I hope they will, there will be very great pressure on the Government to formally recognise the Palestinian State in the way that the Swedish Government has just done. I long ago gave up hope for the Israelis participating in a negotiated solution. This Israeli government is the worst, in my view, there’s ever been—extreme right wing, chauvinistic. It’s now closed down the Al-Aqsa mosque area in Jerusalem, which no one has ever done before.

President Obama blathered on a lot that the Americans would put pressure on the Israelis but all the Americans are now whining and saying the Israelis are poisoning the atmosphere. [He] has been a total waste of space on most things actually including the closing of the Guantanamo Bay imprisonment camp. Panta rei means everything flows; you can’t rely on things staying the same. Whoever would have thought that the Berlin Wall would have come down, that freedom would be given in South Africa, [or] that we would get a relatively peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland? My own view is that the day will come when the Palestinians, who have already revolted twice, will say, “if we’re going to die, let’s die for something.” And if that happens then all bets are off. I simply say do what you can. Something is more than nothing. Don’t regard efforts or individual efforts as futile, everything counts. If you try you may fail, but if you don’t try you will fail.

On Judaism worldwide I get quite a lot of letters from Jews and quite a lot of e-mails from Jews in the US supporting what I say and what I try to do and [they] say, “no American congressman would ever dare to say what you say, because of the pressure groups. There was an article a few weeks ago, about the way in which the principal Jewish pressure group, the AIPAC, is weakening its impact. I am a religious Jew; I was brought up as a religious Jew and I remain a religious Jew, but you don’t have to be religious to be a Jew. In fact, you can’t stop being a Jew whether you want to or not. As Hitler proved, if one converted from Judaism, as far as the Nazis were concerned, they were still Jews and still liable to be put in concentration camps and death camps. On comedy I wrote for the comedy show, That Was The Week That Was—that was a fantastic opportunity for me, which I made for myself. On the first night it was broadcast I visited my mother in Leeds—there were only 2 channels then—and we sat there watching That Was The Week That Was and I said, “I can do this.” That was a Saturday night.

I thought up an idea and rang the BBC and asked to speak to the producer, Ned Sherrin, from my office at The Daily Mirror that Monday morning. He had no idea who I was and I told him that I had this idea for a sketch and he said “write it and I’ll send a taxi in the morning to pick it up.” No e-mail, no fax in those days. It was broadcast on the Saturday night and then most Saturday nights I contributed sketches. On the education system I was fortunate enough to win a scholarship to Leeds Grammar School which was a fee-paying independent school and I would never have got near it if I hadn’t won a scholarship. I don’t want to close [fee-paying schools] down. I can’t say I’m thrilled by the status of Manchester Grammar School which I represented for 44 years but which had nothing to do with me for a very great time. As long as the state system provides a satisfactory education for young people, then I’m not going to say that fee-paying schools should be closed down. I won what was called an Exhibition to Oxford, a kind of scholarship. I’d have never got near it if it depended on getting money and my parents paying.

When I was a undergraduate there were just over 100000 university students in the country and there are now a million and a half, so that creates certain problems. That’s no excuse for what has happened over the past few years. This Government’s abolition of the EMA means that young people have had opportunities of going to higher education taken away. I would very much like to see university education being free, but I don’t see it happening and it’s certainly not happening under this Government. I hope that if we get a Labour Government next year, they will ameliorate the situation, [but] I don’t think we’re ever going to go back to the kind of opportunities I had, because very rightly, the aspirations of many young people are much greater than they were when I started out. After the Students' Union voted to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, The Mancunion looks into the debates surrounding the movement 10th December 2014 The All Student Vote 'Peace through Education' has reopened. It proposes to renew links with Al-Najah University and to provide an annual scholarship for a student from there.

3rd October 2011 For all of President Obama's idealistic rhetoric, it falls to our European leaders to take action over the Middle East peace process 15th October 2011 On 23 September Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and head of the Palestinian Authority, officially submitted a bid to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon […] 15th October 2011 “With our souls, with our blood, we will defend Palestine,” cry those for whom Western rhetoric has become a rare beacon of hope in the ongoing battle for Palestinian statehood. Tired of […] 11th October 2012 Eve Fensome meets Tony Benn. 20th February 2015 From the 23rd to the 27th of February, Action Palestine is running events, stalls and talks to increase awareness of the conflict in Gaza 17th November 2011 Responding to a legal and non-aggressive action by stepping up settlement construction displays how uninterested in the peace process Israel has become.

3rd February 2016 Joely Thomas looks at the many names of IS and asks what effects they have 25th October 2015 Gerald Kaufman: Blair is best for my constituents | Politics | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close During the Labour leadership contest 10 years ago, Tony Blair asked to see me. He wanted my advice on a couple of overseas policy issues. Coming away from the meeting, I ran into Roy Hattersley, who had a Commons office a few doors away. He invited me into his room for a cup of tea and a gossip. We both agreed that Tony was going to make a great leader. But I gave Roy a word of warning. "Today," I said, "Tony is your protege and mine. As soon as he becomes leader, we shall be Falstaffs to his Prince Hal." Roy has never accepted that. Now, after 10 years of sniping at Blair's leadership, he has demanded that the prime minister either fall into line or be given an ultimatum that "would make his position untenable".

Heaven knows, over these seven years of Labour government (and how, during those 18 years of opposition, I would have loved to be able to utter a phrase like that) I have had my criticisms of that government and sometimes of Blair personally. I hate the closeness of the relationship with the appalling George Bush, and nearly two years ago warned of the hazards of a war against Iraq. I gave an advance warning, too, of the folly of a 75p pensions increase and, immediately after the 2001 election, uttered a Cassandra-like admonition on the perils of a failure to tackle adequately the issue of student funding. I have nothing personally to gain from Blair or his government. I scarcely ever see Blair and, if I write to him, am as likely as not to complain of the bureaucratic arrogance of one or other of his ministers. But when it comes to what has happened to my constituents during his period as prime minister... I supported Roy when he was shadow chancellor (and before that in his candidature for the party leadership), but his doubtless worthy efforts only resulted in another victory for Margaret Thatcher.

I supported him when he was shadow home secretary; but the outcome was the Tories continuing to be regarded as the law and order party. I supported John Smith, who was a friend of mine and whom I mourn, but his shadow budget in the 1992 election enabled the Tories to accuse Labour of a "double whammy" on tax and inflation. When we lost in 1992 I did my usual victory tour of my constituency. People came out of their houses to wave. And I wept - not for my own permanently doomed prospects of serving in a government, but because I could do nothing for the good folk who had just given me a 14,000 majority. During the next five years Manchester Gorton became number one in the whole of England for youth unemployment. Teachers taught in overcrowded primary schools while the rain came through the roof. In Stanley Grove school they taught music on the stairs. Now, thanks to Blair's Labour government, long-term youth unemployment in Gorton has gone down by 91%. The minimum wage means that women and men do not have to take any ill-paid job that is going; and 450 women have gained jobs through the new deal for lone parents.

The new deal for schools has repaired those roofs and added extra classrooms for smaller primary classes. More than £7m has gone into school construction and repair projects in my constituency. The number of teaching assistants has more than doubled. Sure Start schemes for under-fours have been massively funded. Neighbourhood renewal schemes have transformed the Northmoor Road area, where despair and deprivation ruled before 1997, so that people are eager to move in and are paying £60,000 for houses which, if they could sell at all, were going for £11,000. Every category of health-service personnel has increased substantially in numbers. More than 5,000 are receiving pension credit. The £200 winter-fuel pay ment was paid last winter to 10,625 of my constituents. More than 6,000 are on learndirect courses. The transformation in the lives of many thousands of my and other Labour MPs' constituents has come about solely because Blair led Labour to two successive smashing victories.

And make no mistake about it: people in inner-city and other deprived constituencies, who went on electing Labour MPs during the wilderness years, could never have hoped for these improvements unless Blair, and only Blair, had won over the middle England constituencies Labour failed to win over 18 years. Now Roy says that Blair is a "liability". Well, his role as a liability does not come within light years of the failure of Labour to dislodge the Tories during the Thatcher-Major hegemony. True, Labour is far from likely to sweep the country in the elections next month; but nor did we in the local and European elections between 1997 and 2001, when the prophets warned inaccurately of the doom to come. As for the next general election, Falstaff Hattersley may wish to ditch Prince Hal. I echo Hilaire Belloc in wanting to "keep a-hold of Nurse/For fear of finding something worse".

· Gerald Kaufman is Labour MP for Manchester Gorton UK parliament may have fewer Jewish MPs after election - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post UK parliament may have fewer Jewish MPs after election UK parliament may have fewer Jewish MPs after election The next British parliament – which is due to start its session on May 27 – may well have fewer Jewish MPs than the 24 in the last Parliament. John Bercow. (photo credit:WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/MICHAL KOZICZYNSKI) Share on Facebook Share on Twitter LONDON – There is less than a week to go before the UK’s closest general election for decades, and regardless of the outcome, many members of the Jewish community will forget political affiliations and cast their eyes down the lists of new and reelected MPs to see how many Jewish candidates have been successful. However, the next parliament – which is due to start its session on May 27 – may well have fewer Jewish MPs than the 24 in the last Parliament. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page.

Since the World War II the number of Jews in the House of Commons had been steadily increasing, though in the last few elections the number remained relatively static – around 20 to 25, out of a total of about 650 constituencies. The 2010 general election returned 13 Jewish MPs on the Conservative benches; 9 Labor MPs; and just two Jews among the Liberal Democrats. Absent from the ruling Conservative Party benches in the next Parliament will be the high profile former foreign and defense secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who was forced to resign just before the end of the session after foolishly being stung in a television interview admitting he was willing to charge serious money to provide lobbyists with access to Parliament. Sadly his distinguished career ended in a “moment of madness.” The same could be said of the much less well known junior minister, Brooks Newmark who last year sent a selfie of his genitalia to a fake female admirer – he too was forced to give up his safe Commons seat just before the election.

The rest of the current Conservative Party’s Jewish contingent, are all standing for reelection, and four of them, Jonathan Djanogly (a former minister), Michael Fabricant, Julian Lewis and Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps should be returned with little problem, each having substantial majorities. Commons Speaker John Bercow, was originally elected as a Conservative but effectively gave up party politics on being voted in as speaker – as traditionally the holder of that role is not opposed by any mainstream candidates in subsequent general elections. He has a safe seat and will sail through the general election, but having made himself unpopular with many of his former party colleagues, he narrowly overcame an attempt to remove him from his post on the last day of the parliamentary term, and may face further moves to unseat him as speaker when MPs vote on who should chair them at their first formal sitting in mid-May. Six other Jewish Conservative MPs represent relatively marginal constituencies; Michael Ellis, Robert Halfon – who is one of his party’s most powerful advocates for Israel, Richard Harrington and Oliver Letwin (presently the Cabinet Office minister) may face being unseated.

Meanwhile, Lee Scott who has had to decline invitations to speak at some of his East London Ilford North constituency hustings because of death threats related to being Jewish and Zac Goldsmith also face close contests. The Conservative Jewish contingent anticipate being joined by a new recruit, Lucy Fraser, who has a “safe seat” and are hopeful that Simon Marcus will beat his Labor opponent in the most marginal constituency in the UK, that of Hampstead and Kilburn, where former actress Glenda Jackson was MP until her retirement. She won the seat last time by just 42 votes. Meanwhile among Labor’s Jewish MPs, the party leadership rests with Ed Miliband, who is hoping to become Britain’s second Jewish premier (the first was Benjamin Disraeli) though he has conceded he is an atheist, and has admitted to having a “complicated” relationship with Israel. Labor MPs who are likely to be reelected include Sir Hugh Bayley and Luciana Berger. She has been rapidly promoted since entering the Commons in 2010, is currently shadow public health minister and may well make cabinet rank in a matter of months. Last year Berger was the subject of a barrage of anti-Semitic abuse emailed by a Liverpool-based Nazi supporter who was subsequently jailed.

Louise Ellman, who until the election chaired the important Transport Select Committee, has been both Israel’s and the Jewish community’s most powerful voice on the Labor benches and has a safe seat as do Fabian Hamilton and Margaret Hodge. She was chairwoman of the influential Public Accounts committee and may well be given a government post if Labor returns to power. Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Ivan Lewis whose Bury South constituency contains many of North Manchester’s Jewish population, has a relatively marginal seat and was worried that his party’s stance during the last Gaza war of being critical of Israel may have dented his chances, but he remains optimistic he will be reelected and he should be rewarded with a senior cabinet position if Labor forms the next administration. Two veteran Jewish Labor MPs, both strong critics of Israel, are likely to be returned to the Commons. Sir Gerald Kaufman has a safe inner city Manchester seat, and if he survives the next five-year Parliament will be just under 89-yearsold. David Winnick however, who is 81-years-old, faces a tougher fight in his more marginal constituency.

Three Jewish would-be MPs are women; barrister Sarah Sackman faces a very tough fight in the North London constituency of Finchley and Golders Green and a recent Conservative-backed opinion poll has suggested she could win. However both Ruth Smeeth and Deborah Sacks are in less winnable constituencies. The Liberal Democrats have two sitting MPs; the Home Office and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone who, latest opinion polls suggest, will be very lucky to keep her North London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green and Dr Julian Huppert, whose Cambridge constituency has in the past been considered a highly marginal one. Robin Meltzer is standing in the South West London winnable seat of Richmond Park where he is trying to oust fellow Jew, Conservative MP Goldsmith. Finally UKIP, the newest of the political parties, which has just two MPs – both of whom defected mid-term from the Conservatives – winning the subsequent by-elections.

They have put up at least eight Jewish candidates but none of them have any serious expectation of being elected; though should party leader Nigel Farage win his constituency of South Thanet, faction sources have told The Jerusalem Post that he will resign his existing European Parliament seat and allow Donna Edmunds to become the first Jewish MEP since 2009. Relevant to your professional network? Please share on Linkedin Think others should know about this?

Please share | Gerald Kaufman | Politicians | UK Politics Gerald Kaufman General Election 2015: Manchester, Gorton TURNOUT - 57.59% MAJORITY - 57.31% Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Simon Hickman Labour 4.96% swing to Lab from Green Swing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 prev next General Election Seat Summary 2010: Manchester, Gorton TURNOUT - 50.00% MAJORITY - 17.00% Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Reissman, Karen Respect The Unity Coalition Party Zulfikar, Mohammed Voting Summary Immigration: Voted moderately for making the asylum system stricter by tightening the criteria for acceptance, setting tougher rules for allowable activities and making it easier for government agencies to remove asylum seekers. Europe: Voted moderately against holding another referendum on membership of the European Union. NHS: Voted very strongly against GP Commissioning in the NHS (the policy that GPs should buy services such as out of hours care, ambulance services and hospital care on behalf of their patients).

Welfare: Voted strongly against the UK state reducing spending on social security and welfare benefits, including state assistance provided via the tax system. Increase Income Tax: Voted strongly for increasing the top rate of income tax. Increase VAT: Voted moderately against increasing VAT. Terrorism: Voted strongly for making the crime known as “Terrorism” different from murder and conspiracy to murder, having have its own special category for which the normal rights not to be detained without charge or trial can be summarily suspended at the whim of the Government. Climate change: Voted a mixture of for and against making the laws which enforce Climate Change policy as strong as possible. Search Constituency DWP Data | Oral Answers to Questions - Treasury | Commons debates 21 Jul 2015 I wish my hon. Friend Debbie Abrahams every good fortune in awaiting a reply to a letter to the Prime Minister, in view of the fact that in the last five years I have had exactly one letter from him, and that was after I had received a letter from No. 10 signed by somebody who did not exist.

I say to the junior Minister that she needs to take some lessons from her boss in dealing with questions in this House, because whatever the nature of his replies, he replies with courtesy. She needs to learn about that as well. Let me put it to the junior Minister that yesterday the Government broke a pledge about providing information and conducting consultation, and today we have a further example of the Government breaking a pledge. Will she explain whether this is simply arrogance or incompetence? DWP Data | Oral Answers to Questions - Treasury | Commons debates 21 Jul 2015 I thank my hon. Friend Diana R. Johnson for putting this urgent question and for all her dedicated work on this agonising issue. I put it to the Minister that if he had made his statement not to the House but to my constituents, including one in particular who lives in agony and fear, the reaction would have been less parliamentary than it has been this afternoon. The people who are waiting for this do not have an infinite amount of time, and the correspondence that I receive on this matter rends my heart. The consultation is taking too long, and action is essential.

Question: The former Labour Minister Gerald Kaufman has his constituency in which city?
Answer: MANCHESTER